Drunk
How We Sipped, Danced, and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization
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Narrated by:
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Tom Parks
About this listen
A "entertaining and enlightening" deep dive into the alcohol-soaked origins of civilization—and the evolutionary roots of humanity’s appetite for intoxication. (Daniel E. Lieberman, author of Exercised)
While plenty of entertaining books have been written about the history of alcohol and other intoxicants, none have offered a comprehensive, convincing answer to the basic question of why humans want to get high in the first place.
Drunk elegantly cuts through the tangle of urban legends and anecdotal impressions that surround our notions of intoxication to provide the first rigorous, scientifically grounded explanation for our love of alcohol. Drawing on evidence from archaeology, history, cognitive neuroscience, psychopharmacology, social psychology, literature, and genetics, Slingerland shows that our taste for chemical intoxicants is not an evolutionary mistake, as we are so often told. In fact, intoxication helps solve a number of distinctively human challenges: enhancing creativity, alleviating stress, building trust, and pulling off the miracle of getting fiercely tribal primates to cooperate with strangers. Our desire to get drunk, along with the individual and social benefits provided by drunkenness, played a crucial role in sparking the rise of the first large-scale societies. We would not have civilization without intoxication.
From marauding Vikings and bacchanalian orgies to sex-starved fruit flies, blind cave fish, and problem-solving crows, Drunk is packed with fascinating case studies and engaging science, as well as practical takeaways for individuals and communities. The result is a captivating and long overdue investigation into humanity's oldest indulgence—one that explains not only why we want to get drunk, but also how it might actually be good for us to tie one on now and then.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2021 by Edward Slingerland. (P)2021 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
"Absorbing...Slingerland makes a compelling case that human societies have been positively shaped by alcohol.”―The Wall Street Journal
“A spirited look at drinking”―Kirkus
“A witty and well-informed narrator, Slingerland ranges across a wide range of academic fields to make his case. Readers will toast this praiseworthy study.”―Publishers Weekly
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- Unabridged
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In Cool, the neuroscientist and philosopher Steven Quartz and the political scientist Anette Asp bring together the latest findings in brain science, economics, and evolutionary biology to form a provocative theory of consumerism, revealing how the brain's "social calculator" and an instinct to rebel are the crucial missing links in understanding the motivations behind our spending habits.
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Some Useful Ideas
- By Carson on 07-20-17
By: Steven Quartz, and others
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A Brief History of Vice
- How Bad Behavior Built Civilization
- By: Robert Evans
- Narrated by: Tristan Morris
- Length: 7 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Guns, germs, and steel might have transformed us from hunter-gatherers into modern man, but booze, sex, trash talk, and tripping built our civilization. Cracked editor Robert Evans brings his signature dogged research and lively insight to uncover the many and magnificent ways vice has influenced history, from the prostitute-turned-empress who scored a major victory for women's rights to the beer that helped create - and destroy - South America's first empire.
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Funny and somewhat informative
- By Neuron on 08-20-16
By: Robert Evans
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This Naked Mind
- Control Alcohol, Find Freedom, Discover Happiness, and Change Your Life
- By: Annie Grace
- Narrated by: Annie Grace
- Length: 7 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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This Naked Mind offers a new, positive solution. Here, Annie Grace clearly presents the psychological and neurological components of alcohol use based on the latest science and reveals the cultural, social, and industry factors that support alcohol dependence in all of us. Packed with surprising insight into the reasons we drink, this book will open your eyes to the startling role of alcohol in our culture and how the stigma of alcoholism and recovery keeps people from getting the help they need.
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Not as Described
- By Sean on 07-01-18
By: Annie Grace
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The Worm at the Core
- On the Role of Death in Life
- By: Jeff Greenberg, Sheldon Solomon, Tom Pyszczynski
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
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More than 100 years ago, the American philosopher William James wrote that the knowledge that we must die is "the worm at the core" of the human condition - a universally shared fear that informs all our thoughts and actions, from the great art we create to the devastating wars we wage.
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Skeptical at first, but they won me over.
- By Tory Giddens on 06-07-20
By: Jeff Greenberg, and others
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Transcendence
- How Humans Evolved Through Fire, Language, Beauty, and Time
- By: Gaia Vince
- Narrated by: Gaia Vince
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
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How four tools enabled humanity to control its destiny What enabled us to go from simple stone tools to smartphones? How did bands of hunter-gatherers evolve into multinational empires? Listeners of Sapiens will say a cognitive revolution - a dramatic evolutionary change that altered our brains, turning primitive humans into modern ones - caused a cultural explosion. In Transcendence, Gaia Vince argues instead that modern humans are the product of a nuanced coevolution of our genes, environment, and culture that goes back into deep time.
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Far too much bias and unsupported conclusions
- By Kurt Leyendecker on 10-01-20
By: Gaia Vince
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The Biology of Desire
- Why Addiction Is Not a Disease
- By: Marc Lewis PhD
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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The psychiatric establishment and rehab industry in the Western world have branded addiction a brain disease based on evidence that brains change with drug use. But in The Biology of Desire, cognitive neuroscientist and former addict Marc Lewis makes a convincing case that addiction is not a disease and shows why the disease model has become an obstacle to healing. Lewis reveals addiction as an unintended consequence of the brain doing what it's supposed to do - seek pleasure and relief - in a world that's not cooperating.
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An important addition to understanding addiction.
- By Jeff M on 02-28-16
By: Marc Lewis PhD
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Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain
- By: Lisa Feldman Barrett
- Narrated by: Lisa Feldman Barrett
- Length: 3 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Have you ever wondered why you have a brain? Let renowned neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett demystify that big gray blob between your ears. In seven short essays (plus a bite-sized story about how brains evolved), this slim, entertaining, and accessible collection reveals mind-expanding lessons from the front lines of neuroscience research. You'll learn where brains came from, how they're structured (and why it matters), and how yours works in tandem with other brains to create everything you experience.
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slow reader & little bit of a Wokie
- By darren on 06-01-21
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When Plants Dream
- Ayahuasca, Amazonian Shamanism, and the Global Psychedelic Renaissance
- By: Daniel Pinchbeck, Sophia Rokhlin
- Narrated by: Aaron Shedlock, Lauren Ezzo
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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In When Plants Dream, Pinchbeck and Rokhlin explore the economic, social, political, cultural and environmental impact that ayahuasca is having on society. "Part One" covers the background; what ayahuasca is, where it is found, and its cultural origins. "Part Two" explores the role and practices of the ayahuasquero in both Amazonian and Western cultures. "Part Three" examines the medicinal plants of the Amazon, looking particularly at the ingredients in ayahuasca and their therapeutic qualities, covering the most up-to-date biomedical research. Plus much more....
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Well Rounded Perspective on Ayahuasca
- By Judith on 10-24-19
By: Daniel Pinchbeck, and others
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Perception
- How Our Bodies Shape Our Minds
- By: Dennis Proffitt, Drake Baer
- Narrated by: Angela Dawe
- Length: 7 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Perception marries academic rigor with mainstream accessibility. The research presented and the personalities profiled will show what it means to not only have, but be, your unique human body. The positive ramifications of viewing ourselves from this embodied perspective include greater athletic, academic, and professional achievement, more nourishing relationships, and greater personal well-being. The better we can understand what our bodies are - what they excel at, what they need, what they must avoid - the better we can live our lives.
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The body-mind connection well explained
- By Lucy A. Pithecus on 12-11-22
By: Dennis Proffitt, and others
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Bozo Sapiens
- Why to Err Is Human
- By: Michael Kaplan, Ellen Kaplan
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Our species, it appears, is hardwired to get things wrong in myriad different ways. Why did recipients of a loan offer accept a higher rate of interest when a pretty woman's face was printed on the flyer? Why did one poll on immigration find the most despised aliens were ones from a group that did not exist? What made four of the Air Force's best pilots fly their planes, in formation, straight into the ground?
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A tour de force
- By Ivan on 07-05-11
By: Michael Kaplan, and others
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Autopilot
- The Art & Science of Doing Nothing
- By: Andrew Smart
- Narrated by: Kevin Free
- Length: 3 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Andrew Smart wants you to sit and do nothing much more often - and he has the science to explain why. At every turn we’re pushed to do more, faster, and more efficiently: That drumbeat resounds throughout our wage-slave society. Multitasking is not only a virtue, it’s a necessity. But Andrew Smart argues that slackers may have the last laugh. The latest neuroscience shows that the “culture of effectiveness” is not only ineffective, it can be harmful to your well-being.
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Not worth it.
- By B Lee on 04-30-14
By: Andrew Smart
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The Blank Slate
- The Modern Denial of Human Nature
- By: Steven Pinker
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 22 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Blank Slate, Steven Pinker, one of the world's leading experts on language and the mind, explores the idea of human nature and its moral, emotional, and political colorings. With characteristic wit, lucidity, and insight, Pinker argues that the dogma that the mind has no innate traits, denies our common humanity and our individual preferences, replaces objective analyses of social problems with feel-good slogans, and distorts our understanding of politics, violence, parenting, and the arts.
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Don't bother. Outdated science & poor logic...
- By ejf211 on 03-31-10
By: Steven Pinker
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Brain Rules for Aging Well
- 10 Principles for Staying Vital, Happy, and Sharp
- By: John Medina
- Narrated by: John Medina
- Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
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How come I can never find my keys? Why don't I sleep as well as I used to? Why do my friends keep repeating the same stories? What can I do to keep my brain sharp? Scientists know. Brain Rules for Aging Well, by developmental molecular biologist Dr. John Medina, gives you the facts - and the prescription to age well - in his signature engaging style. With so many discoveries over the years, science is literally changing our minds about the optimal care and feeding of the brain. All of it is captivating. A great deal of it is unexpected.
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Scientific and practical
- By symya08 on 04-29-18
By: John Medina
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Life on Purpose
- How Living for What Matters Most Changes Everything
- By: Victor J. Strecher
- Narrated by: R.C. Bray
- Length: 5 hrs and 34 mins
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A pioneer in the field of behavioral science delivers a groundbreaking work that shows how finding your purpose in life leads to better health and overall happiness. Your life is a boat. You need a rudder. But it doesn't matter how much wind is in your sails if you're not steering toward a harbor - an ultimate purpose in your life. While the greatest philosophers have pondered purpose for centuries, today it has been shown to have a concrete impact on our health.
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A truly life-changing book
- By Radiant Dark on 11-05-16
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What listeners say about Drunk
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Scott T. Hards
- 08-21-22
Great content; mediocre narrator
The content of the book is not only historically fascinating, but a welcome pushback against all of the modern finger-waggers who would have you believe that even a single drop of alcohol is going to wreck your life. Moderate drinking in social situations has vast social benefits, and if you haven’t experienced them for yourself, you’re missing some of the best that life has to offer.
The narrator, unfortunately, is obviously reading throughout the presentation, as evidenced by his constant over-enunciation of prepositions (especially “to”) and other short words which should be slightly slurred/blurred into following words when speaking naturally.
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- Tom Dawkins
- 02-15-24
Brilliant and illuminating
A truly fascinating book about a borderline taboo topic, the benefits (as we as the harms) of the human drive for intoxication. Linking science and anthropology with stories and verse it's a great listen and deeply illuminating.
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- Sarah
- 02-13-23
A balanced, well-researched account of alcohol
I’ve been taking my time digesting this audiobook for about a year, just savoring it, and the wealth of information it has to offer. It is not a light read but well worth the journey. I came looking for a book about alcohol, but I ended up learning so much more - like what it means to be human (perspectives from psychology, sociology, anthropology). I highly recommend this book and greatly appreciate the discussion of both the benefits of alcohol (creativity, bonding) and the harms of alcohol (marginalization and violence). Overall well-balanced, well-researched, and enlightening
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- Amazon Customer
- 10-23-23
Strong focus on sex
I love listening to nonfiction and thought this book on alcohol would be an interesting listen between work and home but there is a strong focus on sex and the relation between alcohol and it. Not what I wanted to listen to and definitely not something I wanted playing at work.
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- Olena T.
- 05-26-23
A thorough overview of history of alcohol and it’s effects on civilization
Highly interested in the topic of longevity, I doubted there were any positive effects of alcohol besides disinfection. This book gives an informative overview of the creative and communal benefits of alcohol throughout history while allowing the reader to keep an open mind. As an almost non-drinker, I empathized with the stories of feeling left out, especially working in the IT and tech sector. I enjoyed learning that the effects of intoxication can also be achieved in non-chemically induced ways including breathing exercises and almost hypnotic movement. For myself, I find a lot of creative thinking happening while trail running in the North Pacific forests. It is a great read all around!
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- Bryan001
- 10-31-23
Interesting to listen to but not over the top.
Interesting stories. Nothing exciting to learn about as I had hoped. The speaker is a bit monotone.
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- Maine Dave
- 12-21-22
A bit academic with a novel perspective
This book attempts to answer the questions: What role did alcohol play in human evolution and the development of human civilization? What role should alcohol play in modern cultures? If these questions interests you, this book may be for you.
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- aneibauer
- 07-25-22
Alcohol and Creativity
My curiosity about the connection between alcohol and creativity let me to this book. It is an interesting account of the functional benefits of chemical intoxication (mainly alcohol and psychedelics). What I found fascinating is the polarization of the comments and reviews of this book. Obviously, alcohol is a polarized topic with many arguing for either total abstinence or intoxication.
I found Slingerland's book to be well-balanced and well-researched. I spent a good deal of time in the Notes and Bibliography sections researching various social psychology, cognitive neuroscience, and psychopharmacology literature. Although Slingerland argues that alcohol serves a functional role in human cultural life (to be more creative, culturally connected, and communally trusting), he does dedicate 20% of the book to Alcohol Use Disorder (alcoholism) and the real dangers of drinking to excess. Whether you agree with Slingerland's contention or not, the case studies described in this book are interesting in of themselves. This book sets out to understand why humans become intoxicated and is successful in doing so.
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- Amazon Customer
- 12-24-21
Oh Dionysus,
where in this world would you fit today? Well, anywhere you did before. Only except on terms largely more complicated by these over thinking, highly stressed, fastly evolving apes. But nevertheless just as emotional.
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
- David Yu
- 05-08-23
Highly recommended
This book very educational entertaining and awesome the narrative was very good . This book is a must
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2 people found this helpful